Business booms for gun sales

ELKHART, Ind.-- For most industries, the Holiday rush is over. But in the week following Christmas, the Midwest Gun Exchange's business is booming!

"They're all packed," said Jack Macowski, a long time marksman and gun range customer. "They're all crowded. They really are. They're doing a tremendous business."

Sales at the Midwest Gun Exchange climbed steadily through the holiday season as people bought firearms for gifts. And once the Holiday passed, the store saw even more customers come in to buy guns of their own.

"I think a lot of people probably had money left over from christmas," said Brad Rupert, the general manager at the Midwest Gun Exchange. "They kind of squirreled away a little bit of money and then decided it was time to buy themselves a christmas gift."

For Macowski, it wasn't a Christmas gift for himself, but a birthday gift!

"The hottest gun right now is the 380 Bodyguard," said Macowski. "So I bought that for amy birthday gift."

And once you've selected the gun of choice, you can head over to the range to try it out.

"Today is my birthday," said Macowski, 65. "My son brought me here today and gave me a real treat. We shot a grease gun, it's a machine gun."

And the veterans say...

"A lot of people look down on it, but there's a positive side to it too," said Macowski.

It's a positive side that seems to have caught on. In the week following Christmas the range has also seen an increase in business.

"There has been a great increase in traffic this week with a lot of people having monday off and thena lot of people having the majority of the week ornthe whole week off," said Rupert.

In fact, there have been so many people at the range that there has been an hour wait all day every day throughout the week.

"A lot more people are involved in it now," said Macowski. "A lot more people are really into it now."

Rupert said many families and women are getting involved in shooting sports and women are often better shots than the men!